Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-04-04
A. N. TOWNE.
His Opinion of Interstate
Commerce.
HE CALLS 1T A KNOTTY LAW.
The Railroads Not Opposed to it
but Trying to Under
stand it.

- w .-N~~
stand it.
The following opinion of Genera
Manager Towne, of the Southern Paciti.
Company. concerning the principles and
operation of the Interstate Commerce
bill will be read with much interest by
merchants and shippers:
"Dear sir: I regret that 1 was sc
much occul pied yesterday afternoon that
| was not able to give you answers to
some of your questions relative to the
workings of the interstate law, and in
fulfilling my promise to write you on
he subject, I do SO merely to throw out
some hints regarding subject I know SC
little about.
am not unmindful of the demeral-
ziug condition of things at the present
time pertaining to the carriers and their
patrons, but the press and the people
must be patient and wait. Order can.
not be brought out of chaos in a mo-
ment. Such an enormous amount OF
work as is necessary to change the
tariffs from what they were to those
which must prevail under the new law re.
quires time. We hear complaints of an
advance Of rates on freight to high fig.
ures to and from the Pacific slope. This
is not true in the common acceptance OF
the term. The only rates to 60 into
sffect under the law are substantially a
combination of various local rates over
connecting lines, with a considerable
percentage of reductions on long hauls.
This tariff is I'll right, and substantially
what it has been in the past; and the
public and the roads will be all right il
the latter eau be assured of safety in
establishing a competitive tariff, to en-.
BILE the people here to ship at low rates,
as heretofore. until the much. .vexed
question of the long and short haul pro.
visions is disposed of by the commission
ers.
Let any one read some of the sections
OF this law carefully and ask themselves
if they would care to take the chances,
4s railroad company must, of having
100 or more suits per day filed against
them. As an illustration, let the roads,
under the law, take carload of freight
from New York to San Francisco, at say
81 per 100 pounds, to meet ocean compe.
tition, and at the same time take along
another car for Denver, say at 81 so per
100 pounds. The Denver merchant
would doubtless, under his construction
Of the law, at once set his lawyer to work
at the expense of the railroad compa.
ny, SO far as attorneys fees are con.
cerned-and at the same time, perhaps,
manage to have his own clerks drawn as
jurymen; this action to come up in a
local court, which might be more or less
imbued with the false theory that the
lesser distance should not be charged for
at q higher rate than one more remote,
even though the latter may have natu.
raj facilities and active competition, all
beyond the reach of the law.
With these things ever before us, no
one will wonder that we are admon.
ished to move with great caution.
am aware that the most serious ap-
prehensions are entertained by many
relative to the results to come out of
this new law, largely on account of the
vague and ambiguous wording of some
Of its sections. For instance. take the
term Substantially similar circumstan.
ces and conditions;" this must be given
the most LIBERAL construction by the
commissioners or the courts. I say by
the commissioners or the courts, for the
reason that the roads cannot safely in
terpret this clause, however much they
may desire to do SO; and the heavy and
cumulative penalties imposed in every
case for violation of the law will
ever be before the carrier; and for this
reason alone you will see that it is a
question which must be determined by
others. And their rulings must be clearly
in favor Of tariff which will meet the
rates quoted by carriers not subject to
the law. say must, for the reason that
the public cannot and will not consent
to 60 back to the old time routes of car.
riage SO long as the modern and expe-
diiious methods can be opened up again
under liberal construction of the law.
In fact, the practical laws governing the
movement of traffic for the past, which
has come up with the growth and settle.
ment of the country, must be the basis
tor the movement of commerce in the
future, and the sooner this is settled the
better it will be for the public and the
roads as we'll.
The carriers are diligently at work
and will be ready to present to the COM
missioners in good time an appeal for
recognition of the principle that water
competition must be met by the roads,
and the shippers, backed by the press of
this coast, should at once make them
selves clearly understood in their de-
mands for an honest, reasonable and in.
telligent Interpretation of this much
tangled question relating to long and
short hauls. There was much discus.
sion in Congress over this ambiguous
section of the law, yet for some reason
clear definition was not arrived at, OF
there would likely have been a
change in the wording, making il
so clear that anyone with fail
reasoning capacity would have un
derstood it. One is almost per
suaded that the obscure language wa.
chosen for two purposes: First. to con
vince the people of the interior that they
were to be favored by reduction O
rates based on and brought down to th'
level of the through competitive rates
and thereby attempting ia satisfy an un
reasonable clamor; and, second, to as
sure at the same time those favored b,
the laws of nature and by their geo
graphical position that they, too, wour
be protected by their dissimilarly stu
ated condition. And since this was lef
und, oded, who except the Commission
ers or the courts was to determine it, an,
what degree OF elasticity in the interpre
tation of it would be necessary t
accomplish both, and satisfy the people
of the interior of this vast country, ant
those as we'll on the great water ways?
The carriers have no right to place
less favorably situated shipper on al
equality with one more favorable situ
ated; neither has Congress this right
and it is not a good, square busines
proposition when applied to other call
ings, and it will not do when applied te
transportation. The people OF the mos
favored localities, namely, those on tne
coa3E and along the great water ways o.
the interior, make their own pest rates
l-:AL A. m rr;ora hv waHebr. and the rail-